lcd module 16x2 pinout supplier

16×2 LCD is named so because; it has 16 Columns and 2 Rows. There are a lot of combinations available like, 8×1, 8×2, 10×2, 16×1, etc. But the most used one is the 16*2 LCD, hence we are using it here.

All the above mentioned LCD display will have 16 Pins and the programming approach is also the same and hence the choice is left to you. Below is the Pinout and Pin Description of 16x2 LCD Module:

These black circles consist of an interface IC and its associated components to help us use this LCD with the MCU. Because our LCD is a 16*2 Dot matrix LCD and so it will have (16*2=32) 32 characters in total and each character will be made of 5*8 Pixel Dots.  A Single character with all its Pixels enabled is shown in the below picture.

So Now, we know that each character has (5*8=40) 40 Pixels and for 32 Characters we will have (32*40) 1280 Pixels. Further, the LCD should also be instructed about the Position of the Pixels.

It will be a hectic task to handle everything with the help of MCU, hence an Interface IC like HD44780 is used, which is mounted on LCD Module itself. The function of this IC is to get the Commands and Data from the MCU and process them to display meaningful information onto our LCD Screen.

The LCD can work in two different modes, namely the 4-bit mode and the 8-bit mode. In 4 bit mode we send the data nibble by nibble, first upper nibble and then lower nibble. For those of you who don’t know what a nibble is: a nibble is a group of four bits, so the lower four bits (D0-D3) of a byte form the lower nibble while the upper four bits (D4-D7) of a byte form the higher nibble. This enables us to send 8 bit data.

As said, the LCD itself consists of an Interface IC. The MCU can either read or write to this interface IC. Most of the times we will be just writing to the IC, since reading will make it more complex and such scenarios are very rare. Information like position of cursor, status completion interrupts etc. can be read if required, but it is out of the scope of this tutorial.

The Interface IC present in most of the LCD is HD44780U,in order to program our LCD we should learn the complete datasheet of the IC. The datasheet is given here.

There are some preset commands instructions in LCD, which we need to send to LCD through some microcontroller. Some important command instructions are given below:

16x2 LCD modules are very commonly used in most embedded projects, the reason being its cheap price, availability, programmer friendly and available educational resources.

16×2 LCD is named so because; it has 16 Columns and 2 Rows. There are a lot of combinations available like, 8×1, 8×2, 10×2, 16×1, etc. but the most used one is the 16×2 LCD. So, it will have (16×2=32) 32 characters in total and each character will be made of 5×8 Pixel Dots. A Single character with all its Pixels is shown in the below picture.

Now, we know that each character has (5×8=40) 40 Pixels and for 32 Characters we will have (32×40) 1280 Pixels. Further, the LCD should also be instructed about the Position of the Pixels. Hence it will be a hectic task to handle everything with the help of MCU, hence an Interface IC like HD44780is used, which is mounted on the backside of the LCD Module itself. The function of this IC is to get the Commands and Data from the MCU and process them to display meaningful information onto our LCD Screen. You can learn how to interface an LCD using the above mentioned links. If you are an advanced programmer and would like to create your own library for interfacing your Microcontroller with this LCD module then you have to understand the HD44780 IC working and commands which can be found its datasheet.

We come across Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) displays everywhere around us. Computers, calculators, television sets, mobile phones, and digital watches use some kind of display to display the time.

An LCD screen is an electronic display module that uses liquid crystal to produce a visible image. The 16×2 LCD display is a very basic module commonly used in DIYs and circuits. The 16×2 translates a display of 16 characters per line in 2 such lines. In this LCD, each character is displayed in a 5×7 pixel matrix.

Contrast adjustment; the best way is to use a variable resistor such as a potentiometer. The output of the potentiometer is connected to this pin. Rotate the potentiometer knob forward and backward to adjust the LCD contrast.

A 16X2 LCD has two registers, namely, command and data. The register select is used to switch from one register to other. RS=0 for the command register, whereas RS=1 for the data register.

Command Register: The command register stores the command instructions given to the LCD. A command is an instruction given to an LCD to do a predefined task. Examples like:

Data Register: The data register stores the data to be displayed on the LCD. The data is the ASCII value of the character to be displayed on the LCD. When we send data to LCD, it goes to the data register and is processed there. When RS=1, the data register is selected.

Generating custom characters on LCD is not very hard. It requires knowledge about the custom-generated random access memory (CG-RAM) of the LCD and the LCD chip controller. Most LCDs contain a Hitachi HD4478 controller.

CG-RAM address starts from 0x40 (Hexadecimal) or 64 in decimal. We can generate custom characters at these addresses. Once we generate our characters at these addresses, we can print them by just sending commands to the LCD. Character addresses and printing commands are below.

LCD modules are very important in many Arduino-based embedded system designs to improve the user interface of the system. Interfacing with Arduino gives the programmer more freedom to customize the code easily. Any cost-effective Arduino board, a 16X2 character LCD display, jumper wires, and a breadboard are sufficient enough to build the circuit. The interfacing of Arduino to LCD display is below.

The combination of an LCD and Arduino yields several projects, the most simple one being LCD to display the LED brightness. All we need for this circuit is an LCD, Arduino, breadboard, a resistor, potentiometer, LED, and some jumper cables. The circuit connections are below.

Do you want your Arduino projects to display status messages or sensor readings? Then these LCD displays can be a perfect fit. They are extremely common and fast way to add a readable interface to your project.

This tutorial will help you get up and running with not only 16×2 Character LCD, but any Character LCD (16×4, 16×1, 20×4 etc.) that is based on Hitachi’s LCD Controller Chip – HD44780.

True to their name, these LCDs are ideal for displaying only text/characters. A 16×2 character LCD, for example, has an LED backlight and can display 32 ASCII characters in two rows of 16 characters each.

The good news is that all of these displays are ‘swappable’, which means if you build your project with one you can just unplug it and use another size/color LCD of your choice. Your code will have to change a bit but at least the wiring remains the same!

Vo (LCD Contrast) controls the contrast and brightness of the LCD. Using a simple voltage divider with a potentiometer, we can make fine adjustments to the contrast.

RS (Register Select) pin is set to LOW when sending commands to the LCD (such as setting the cursor to a specific location, clearing the display, etc.) and HIGH when sending data to the LCD. Basically this pin is used to separate the command from the data.

R/W (Read/Write) pin allows you to read data from the LCD or write data to the LCD. Since we are only using this LCD as an output device, we are going to set this pin LOW. This forces it into WRITE mode.

E (Enable) pin is used to enable the display. When this pin is set to LOW, the LCD does not care what is happening on the R/W, RS, and data bus lines. When this pin is set to HIGH, the LCD processes the incoming data.

Now we will power the LCD. The LCD has two separate power connections; One for the LCD (pin 1 and pin 2) and the other for the LCD backlight (pin 15 and pin 16). Connect pins 1 and 16 of the LCD to GND and 2 and 15 to 5V.

Most LCDs have a built-in series resistor for the LED backlight. You’ll find this near pin 15 on the back of the LCD. If your LCD does not include such a resistor or you are not sure if your LCD has one, you will need to add one between 5V and pin 15. It is safe to use a 220 ohm resistor, although a value this high may make the backlight a bit dim. For better results you can check the datasheet for maximum backlight current and select a suitable resistor value.

Next we will make the connection for pin 3 on the LCD which controls the contrast and brightness of the display. To adjust the contrast we will connect a 10K potentiometer between 5V and GND and connect the potentiometer’s center pin (wiper) to pin 3 on the LCD.

That’s it. Now turn on the Arduino. You will see the backlight lit up. Now as you turn the knob on the potentiometer, you will start to see the first row of rectangles. If that happens, Congratulations! Your LCD is working fine.

Let’s finish connecting the LCD to the Arduino. We have already made the connections to power the LCD, now all we have to do is make the necessary connections for communication.

We know that there are 8 data pins that carry data to the display. However, HD44780 based LCDs are designed in such a way that we can communicate with the LCD using only 4 data pins (4-bit mode) instead of 8 (8-bit mode). This saves us 4 pins!

The sketch begins by including the LiquidCrystal library. The Arduino community has a library called LiquidCrystal which makes programming of LCD modules less difficult. You can find more information about the library on Arduino’s official website.

First we create a LiquidCrystal object. This object uses 6 parameters and specifies which Arduino pins are connected to the LCD’s RS, EN, and four data pins.

In the ‘setup’ we call two functions. The first function is begin(). It is used to specify the dimensions (number of columns and rows) of the display. If you are using a 16×2 character LCD, pass the 16 and 2; If you’re using a 20×4 LCD, pass 20 and 4. You got the point!

After that we set the cursor position to the second row by calling the function setCursor(). The cursor position specifies the location where you want the new text to be displayed on the LCD. The upper left corner is assumed to be col=0, row=0.

There are some useful functions you can use with LiquidCrystal objects. Some of them are listed below:lcd.home() function is used to position the cursor in the upper-left of the LCD without clearing the display.

lcd.scrollDisplayRight() function scrolls the contents of the display one space to the right. If you want the text to scroll continuously, you have to use this function inside a for loop.

lcd.scrollDisplayLeft() function scrolls the contents of the display one space to the left. Similar to above function, use this inside a for loop for continuous scrolling.

If you find the characters on the display dull and boring, you can create your own custom characters (glyphs) and symbols for your LCD. They are extremely useful when you want to display a character that is not part of the standard ASCII character set.

CGROM is used to store all permanent fonts that are displayed using their ASCII codes. For example, if we send 0x41 to the LCD, the letter ‘A’ will be printed on the display.

CGRAM is another memory used to store user defined characters. This RAM is limited to 64 bytes. For a 5×8 pixel based LCD, only 8 user-defined characters can be stored in CGRAM. And for 5×10 pixel based LCD only 4 user-defined characters can be stored.

16×2 LCD is named so because; it has 16 Columns and 2 Rows. There are a lot of combinations available like, 8×1, 8×2, 10×2, 16×1, etc. But the most used one is the 16*2 LCD, hence we are using it here.

All the above mentioned LCD display will have 16 Pins and the programming approach is also the same and hence the choice is left to you. Below is the Pinout and Pin Description of 16x2 LCD Module:

These black circles consist of an interface IC and its associated components to help us use this LCD with the MCU. Because our LCD is a 16*2 Dot matrix LCD and so it will have (16*2=32) 32 characters in total and each character will be made of 5*8 Pixel Dots.  A Single character with all its Pixels enabled is shown in the below picture.

So Now, we know that each character has (5*8=40) 40 Pixels and for 32 Characters we will have (32*40) 1280 Pixels. Further, the LCD should also be instructed about the Position of the Pixels.

It will be a hectic task to handle everything with the help of MCU, hence an Interface IC like HD44780 is used, which is mounted on LCD Module itself. The function of this IC is to get the Commands and Data from the MCU and process them to display meaningful information onto our LCD Screen.

The LCD can work in two different modes, namely the 4-bit mode and the 8-bit mode. In 4 bit mode we send the data nibble by nibble, first upper nibble and then lower nibble. For those of you who don’t know what a nibble is: a nibble is a group of four bits, so the lower four bits (D0-D3) of a byte form the lower nibble while the upper four bits (D4-D7) of a byte form the higher nibble. This enables us to send 8 bit data.

As said, the LCD itself consists of an Interface IC. The MCU can either read or write to this interface IC. Most of the times we will be just writing to the IC, since reading will make it more complex and such scenarios are very rare. Information like position of cursor, status completion interrupts etc. can be read if required, but it is out of the scope of this tutorial.

The Interface IC present in most of the LCD is HD44780U,in order to program our LCD we should learn the complete datasheet of the IC. The datasheet is given here.

There are some preset commands instructions in LCD, which we need to send to LCD through some microcontroller. Some important command instructions are given below:

16x2 LCD modules are very commonly used in most embedded projects, the reason being its cheap price, availability, programmer friendly and available educational resources.

16×2 LCD is named so because; it has 16 Columns and 2 Rows. There are a lot of combinations available like, 8×1, 8×2, 10×2, 16×1, etc. but the most used one is the 16×2 LCD. So, it will have (16×2=32) 32 characters in total and each character will be made of 5×8 Pixel Dots. A Single character with all its Pixels is shown in the below picture.

Now, we know that each character has (5×8=40) 40 Pixels and for 32 Characters we will have (32×40) 1280 Pixels. Further, the LCD should also be instructed about the Position of the Pixels. Hence it will be a hectic task to handle everything with the help of MCU, hence an Interface IC like HD44780is used, which is mounted on the backside of the LCD Module itself. The function of this IC is to get the Commands and Data from the MCU and process them to display meaningful information onto our LCD Screen. You can learn how to interface an LCD using the above mentioned links. If you are an advanced programmer and would like to create your own library for interfacing your Microcontroller with this LCD module then you have to understand the HD44780 IC working and commands which can be found its datasheet.

We come across Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) displays everywhere around us. Computers, calculators, television sets, mobile phones, digital watches use some kind of display to display the time.

An LCD screen is an electronic display module that uses liquid crystal to produce a visible image. The 16×2 LCD display is a very basic module commonly used in DIYs and circuits. The 16×2 translates o a display 16 characters per line in 2 such lines. In this LCD each character is displayed in a 5×7 pixel matrix.

Contrast adjustment; the best way is to use a variable resistor such as a potentiometer. The output of the potentiometer is connected to this pin. Rotate the potentiometer knob forward and backwards to adjust the LCD contrast.

A 16X2 LCD has two registers, namely, command and data. The register select is used to switch from one register to other. RS=0 for command register, whereas RS=1 for data register.

Command Register: The command register stores the command instructions given to the LCD. A command is an instruction given to LCD to do a predefined task. Examples like:

Data Register: The data register stores the data to be displayed on the LCD. The data is the ASCII value of the character to be displayed on the LCD. When we send data to LCD it goes to the data register and is processed there. When RS=1, data register is selected.

Generating custom characters on LCD is not very hard. It requires the knowledge about custom generated random access memory (CG-RAM) of LCD and the LCD chip controller. Most LCDs contain Hitachi HD4478 controller.

CG-RAM address starts from 0x40 (Hexadecimal) or 64 in decimal. We can generate custom characters at these addresses. Once we generate our characters at these addresses, we can print them by just sending commands to the LCD. Character addresses and printing commands are below.

LCD modules form a very important in many Arduino based embedded system designs to improve the user interface of the system. Interfacing with Arduino gives the programmer more freedom to customise the code easily. Any cost effective Arduino board, a 16X2 character LCD display, jumper wires and a breadboard are sufficient enough to build the circuit. The interfacing of Arduino to LCD display below.

The combination of an LCD and Arduino yields several projects, the most simple one being LCD to display the LED brightness. All we need for this circuit is an LCD, Arduino, breadboard, a resistor, potentiometer, LED and some jumper cables. The circuit connections are below.

Do you want your Arduino projects to display status messages or sensor readings? Then these LCD displays can be a perfect fit. They are extremely common and fast way to add a readable interface to your project.

This tutorial will help you get up and running with not only 16×2 Character LCD, but any Character LCD (16×4, 16×1, 20×4 etc.) that is based on Hitachi’s LCD Controller Chip – HD44780.

True to their name, these LCDs are ideal for displaying only text/characters. A 16×2 character LCD, for example, has an LED backlight and can display 32 ASCII characters in two rows of 16 characters each.

The good news is that all of these displays are ‘swappable’, which means if you build your project with one you can just unplug it and use another size/color LCD of your choice. Your code will have to change a bit but at least the wiring remains the same!

Vo (LCD Contrast) controls the contrast and brightness of the LCD. Using a simple voltage divider with a potentiometer, we can make fine adjustments to the contrast.

RS (Register Select) pin is set to LOW when sending commands to the LCD (such as setting the cursor to a specific location, clearing the display, etc.) and HIGH when sending data to the LCD. Basically this pin is used to separate the command from the data.

R/W (Read/Write) pin allows you to read data from the LCD or write data to the LCD. Since we are only using this LCD as an output device, we are going to set this pin LOW. This forces it into WRITE mode.

E (Enable) pin is used to enable the display. When this pin is set to LOW, the LCD does not care what is happening on the R/W, RS, and data bus lines. When this pin is set to HIGH, the LCD processes the incoming data.

Now we will power the LCD. The LCD has two separate power connections; One for the LCD (pin 1 and pin 2) and the other for the LCD backlight (pin 15 and pin 16). Connect pins 1 and 16 of the LCD to GND and 2 and 15 to 5V.

Most LCDs have a built-in series resistor for the LED backlight. You’ll find this near pin 15 on the back of the LCD. If your LCD does not include such a resistor or you are not sure if your LCD has one, you will need to add one between 5V and pin 15. It is safe to use a 220 ohm resistor, although a value this high may make the backlight a bit dim. For better results you can check the datasheet for maximum backlight current and select a suitable resistor value.

Next we will make the connection for pin 3 on the LCD which controls the contrast and brightness of the display. To adjust the contrast we will connect a 10K potentiometer between 5V and GND and connect the potentiometer’s center pin (wiper) to pin 3 on the LCD.

That’s it. Now turn on the Arduino. You will see the backlight lit up. Now as you turn the knob on the potentiometer, you will start to see the first row of rectangles. If that happens, Congratulations! Your LCD is working fine.

Let’s finish connecting the LCD to the Arduino. We have already made the connections to power the LCD, now all we have to do is make the necessary connections for communication.

We know that there are 8 data pins that carry data to the display. However, HD44780 based LCDs are designed in such a way that we can communicate with the LCD using only 4 data pins (4-bit mode) instead of 8 (8-bit mode). This saves us 4 pins!

The sketch begins by including the LiquidCrystal library. The Arduino community has a library called LiquidCrystal which makes programming of LCD modules less difficult. You can find more information about the library on Arduino’s official website.

First we create a LiquidCrystal object. This object uses 6 parameters and specifies which Arduino pins are connected to the LCD’s RS, EN, and four data pins.

In this tutorial I am going to explain about the pin out, working and control systems of character lcd’s. Character lcd’s comes in many sizes for example 8×1, 8×2, 8×4, 16×1, 16×2, 20×1, 20×2, 20×4, 24×1, 24×2, 24×4, 32×1, 32×2, 40×1, 40×2 and 40×4. In these MxN dimensions, M represents number of coulombs & N represents number of rows.

All these Lcd’s available in market have 14 or 16 pins depending on the vendor/supplier. Also they all contains a same lcd controller in them which controls all their activities. Talks to external peripherals(like microcontrollers) receives data from external devices and displays them on lcd display screen. Generally every character lcd has HD44780 controller in it which controls every operation of character lcd. Some variants and competitors of HD44780 also placed step in embedded market but they are not popular for exampleAIP31066 , KS0066 , SPLC780 and ST7066 lcd controller.

In these 14 pins, 8 are data pins(FromDB-0toDB-7). Three are lcd control pinsRS(Register Select),R/W(Read-Write) &En(Enable). Two are lcd power pinsVcc(+5v)Vss(Gnd). The last pin islcd contrast pin(V0).

If lcd contains 16 pins than the extra 2 pins are LED+ and LED- pins. LED+ and LED- are for lcd’s back light, if you want to switch on the back light of lcd then use these pins other wise leave them void.

Character lcd’s which have pins arranged in two lines like headers, their pin-out is given below. Female header pin-out is shown below. Vendors for ease pre-solder the lcd pins and provide a female header for connections.

Mostly character lcds contains HD44780U lcd controller in them. HD44780 was developed by Hitachi. A single HD44780 can handle up to 80 characters. In 40×4 lcd display total characters which we can display on lcd are 40×4=160. So to control 160 characters we need two HD44780 controllers. To work with two HD44780 controllers we need an extra pin to energize the second controller.

Lcd contrast pin is same like fine tuning your television. In televisions we fine tune stations using remote but in character lcd’s we have to manually do it by varying the resistance. Varying the resistance means we control the input current to lcd. Varying resistance will fade or brighten the characters or data appearing on lcd screen.

Character Lcd’s can be interfaced in 8-bit and 4-bit mode with external controllers. In 8-bit mode all the data lines(DB0-DB7) of lcd are utilized. In 4-bit mode only four data pins of lcd are utilized (DB7-DB4). In 4-bit mode first the 8-bit ASCII value is divided in to two nibbles, first the upper nibble is send on data line and then the lower nibble. 4-bit mode is used when we want to save GPIO pins of our external device like microcontoller. An example of lcd connection with remote controller is shown in the picture below.

I prepared a good tutorial on interfacing character lcd in 8-bit and 4-bit mode with microcontrollers. Demo codes are also presented and explained in the post. Click the below button to take the tutorial.

In this tutorial I am going to explain about the pin out, working and control systems of character lcd’s. Character lcd’s comes in many sizes for example 8×1, 8×2, 8×4, 16×1, 16×2, 20×1, 20×2, 20×4, 24×1, 24×2, 24×4, 32×1, 32×2, 40×1, 40×2 and 40×4. In these MxN dimensions, M represents number of coulombs & N represents number of rows.

All these Lcd’s available in market have 14 or 16 pins depending on the vendor/supplier. Also they all contains a same lcd controller in them which controls all their activities. Talks to external peripherals(like microcontrollers) receives data from external devices and displays them on lcd display screen. Generally every character lcd has HD44780 controller in it which controls every operation of character lcd. Some variants and competitors of HD44780 also placed step in embedded market but they are not popular for exampleAIP31066 , KS0066 , SPLC780 and ST7066 lcd controller.

In these 14 pins, 8 are data pins(FromDB-0toDB-7). Three are lcd control pinsRS(Register Select),R/W(Read-Write) &En(Enable). Two are lcd power pinsVcc(+5v)Vss(Gnd). The last pin islcd contrast pin(V0).

If lcd contains 16 pins than the extra 2 pins are LED+ and LED- pins. LED+ and LED- are for lcd’s back light, if you want to switch on the back light of lcd then use these pins other wise leave them void.

Character lcd’s which have pins arranged in two lines like headers, their pin-out is given below. Female header pin-out is shown below. Vendors for ease pre-solder the lcd pins and provide a female header for connections.

Mostly character lcds contains HD44780U lcd controller in them. HD44780 was developed by Hitachi. A single HD44780 can handle up to 80 characters. In 40×4 lcd display total characters which we can display on lcd are 40×4=160. So to control 160 characters we need two HD44780 controllers. To work with two HD44780 controllers we need an extra pin to energize the second controller.

Lcd contrast pin is same like fine tuning your television. In televisions we fine tune stations using remote but in character lcd’s we have to manually do it by varying the resistance. Varying the resistance means we control the input current to lcd. Varying resistance will fade or brighten the characters or data appearing on lcd screen.

Character Lcd’s can be interfaced in 8-bit and 4-bit mode with external controllers. In 8-bit mode all the data lines(DB0-DB7) of lcd are utilized. In 4-bit mode only four data pins of lcd are utilized (DB7-DB4). In 4-bit mode first the 8-bit ASCII value is divided in to two nibbles, first the upper nibble is send on data line and then the lower nibble. 4-bit mode is used when we want to save GPIO pins of our external device like microcontoller. An example of lcd connection with remote controller is shown in the picture below.

I prepared a good tutorial on interfacing character lcd in 8-bit and 4-bit mode with microcontrollers. Demo codes are also presented and explained in the post. Click the below button to take the tutorial.

Nowadays, we always use the devices which are made up of LCDs such as CD players, DVD players, digital watches, computers, etc. These are commonly used in the screen industries to replace the utilization of CRTs. Cathode Ray Tubes use huge power when compared with LCDs, and CRTs heavier as well as bigger. These devices are thinner as well power consumption is extremely less. The LCD 16×2 working principle is, it blocks the light rather than dissipate. This article discusses an overview of LCD 16X2, pin configuration and its working.

The term LCD stands for liquid crystal display. It is one kind of electronic display module used in an extensive range of applications like various circuits & devices like mobile phones, calculators, computers, TV sets, etc. These displays are mainly preferred for multi-segment light-emitting diodes and seven segments. The main benefits of using this module are inexpensive; simply programmable, animations, and there are no limitations for displaying custom characters, special and even animations, etc.

A 16×2 LCD has two registers like data register and command register. The RS (register select) is mainly used to change from one register to another. When the register set is ‘0’, then it is known as command register. Similarly, when the register set is ‘1’, then it is known as data register.

The main function of the data register is to store the information which is to be exhibited on the LCD screen. Here, the ASCII value of the character is the information which is to be exhibited on the screen of LCD. Whenever we send the information to LCD, it transmits to the data register, and then the process will be starting there. When register set =1, then the data register will be selected.

Thus, this is all about LCD 16×2 datasheet, which includes what is a 16X2 LCD, pin configuration, working principle, and its applications. The main advantages of this LCD device include power consumption is less and low cost. The main disadvantages of this LCD device include it occupies a large area, slow devices and also lifespan of these devices will be reduced due to direct current. So these LCDs use AC supply with less than 500Hz frequency. Here is a question for you, what are the applications of LCD?

Winstar 16x2 Character LCD Display WH1602W is having two pinout interfaces on upper and bottom sides of the LCD module. This 16x2 lcd display has the outline size of 80.0 x 36.0 mm and VA size of 66.0 x 16.0 mm and the maximum thickness is 13.2 mm. WH1602W 16x2 LCD Displays are built-in controller ST7066 or equivalent. It is optional for + 5.0 V or + 3.0 V power supply. The LEDs can be driven by pin 1, pin 2, or pin 15 pin 16 or A/K. This type of module can be operating at temperatures from -20℃ to +70℃; its storage temperatures range from -30℃ to +80℃.

In LCD 16×2, the term LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display that uses a plane panel display technology, used in screens of computer monitors & TVs, smartphones, tablets, mobile devices, etc. Both the displays like LCD & CRTs look the same but their operation is different. Instead of electrons diffraction at a glass display, a liquid crystal display has a backlight that provides light to each pixel that is arranged in a rectangular network.

Every pixel includes a blue, red, green sub-pixel that can be switched ON/OFF. Once all these pixels are deactivated, then it will appear black and when all the sub-pixels are activated then it will appear white. By changing the levels of each light, different color combinations are achievable. This article discusses an overview of LCD 16X2 & its working with applications.

An electronic device that is used to display data and the message is known as LCD 16×2. As the name suggests, it includes 16 Columns & 2 Rows so it can display 32 characters (16×2=32) in total & every character will be made with 5×8 (40) Pixel Dots. So the total pixels within this LCD can be calculated as 32 x 40 otherwise 1280 pixels.

16 X2 displays mostly depend on multi-segment LEDs. There are different types of displays available in the market with different combinations such as 8×2, 8×1, 16×1, and 10×2, however, the LCD 16×2 is broadly used in devices, DIY circuits, electronic projects due to less cost, programmable friendly & simple to access.

Pin7 (Data Pin): The data pins are from 0-7 which are connected through the microcontroller for data transmission. The LCD module can also work on the 4-bit mode through working on pins 1, 2, 3 & other pins are free.

The basic working principle of LCD is passing the light from layer to layer through modules. These modules will vibrate & line up their position on 90o that permits the polarized sheet to allow the light to pass through it.

At present, LCDs are used frequently in CD/DVD players, digital watches, computers, etc. In screen industries, LCDs have replaced the CRTs (Cathode Ray Tubes) because these displays use more power as compared to LCD, heavier & larger.

The displays of LCDs are thinner as compared to CRTs. As compared to LED screens, LCD has less power consumption because it functions on the fundamental principle of blocking light instead of dissipating.

The registers used in LCD are two types like data register & command register. The register can be changed by using the RS pinout. If we set ‘0’ then it is command register and if it is ‘1’ then it is data register.

The main function of the command register is to save instructions illustrated on LCD. That assists in data clearing & changes the cursor location & controls the display.

The data register is used to save the date to exhibit on the LCD. Once we transmit data to LCD, then it shifts to the data register to process the data. If we fix the register value at one that the data register will start working.

Interfacing of a 16X2 LCD with Arduino is discussed to display “Hello World!” on the screen. A library like LiquidCrystal permits you to manage the displays that are well-matched through the driver like Hitachi HD44780 driver. Here, the following example circuit displays “Hello World!” on the LCD & displays the time in sec once the Arduino board was reset.

The 16×2 display includes a parallel interface which means that the microcontroller used in this has to control different interface pins immediately to control the LCD. The interface includes mainly these pins like RS (Register Select) pin, Read/Write pin, Enable Pin, Data pins from D0 to D7, display contrast pin, LED backlight pins, power supply pins.

The controlling of LCDs compatible with Hitachi can be done using two modes like 4-bit/8-bit. Here, the 4-bit mode needs 7 I/O pins using the Arduino board, whereas the 8-bit mode needs 11 pins. To display the text on the LCD, the 4-bit mode is used. The following example will explain how to control an LCD using 4-bit mode.

Before interfacing the LCD screen to the Arduino board, a pin header strip need to be solder to pin-14 or 16 of the LCD. We can notice this in the following circuit diagram. The following pins need to connect to wire the LCD to an Arduino board.

Thus, this is all about an overview of LCD 16×2, used in a wide range of applications such as different devices and circuits such as calculators, mobile phones, TV sets, computers, etc. These displays are mostly selected for multi-segment LEDs & 7- segment displays. LCDs are extensively used in different electronic applications like different systems to illustrate different statuses as well as parameters. Here is a question for you, what are the different types of LCDs available in the market?

LCD character modules are “characteristically” simple display devices known for their very low power consumption, low cost and long-term reliability. They are designed to display alpha-numeric characters in preset patterns and do not have much. In most cases, they are small displays with only 8 or 16 or 32 characters, utilized for status reports and simple communication. It is the most popular display for hobbyist because of its ease of operation.

Orient Display offers many standard sizes including (characters x lines) 8×1, 8×2, 16×2, 16×4 , 20×2, 20×4 , 24×4, 40×4, and many more. Orient Display’s character LCD displays cover small LCD character display modules for tiny devices to large character LCD displays for medical equipments.

Orient Display character LCD modules use industrial standard Hitachi HD44780 controller or compatible controllers such as Sitronix ST7066U, Samsung S6A0069, so they can be quickly integrated into a new product or used as a replacement in your existing products.

The LCD panel technologies include TN, STN, FSTN, FFSTN or VA (Vertical Alignment) types and also with positive mode and negative mode and options of reflective, transflective or transmissive polarizers. There are different LED backlights available in various colors including yellow-green, white, red, blue, green, amber, and RGB LEDs as well as no backlight option.

The viewing angles for these character LCD displays are available with 6:00, 12:00, 3:00, and 9:00. Orient Display offers various IC options of character fonts including English/Japanese, western European, eastern European, Scandinavian European, Cyrillic (Russian), and Hebrew/Arabic. These LCD character modules and LCD modules can be used on industrial and consumer’s applications including printers, microwaves, water machines, medical devices, car and home audio, white goods, game machines, toys, industrial meters, etc.

Please see our character LCD display list here. If you can’t find any in the list, please check with our engineers to search our factory database or have a custom-made option.